Preliminary study for increased level of investment among social enterprises

Important results from the project

Increasing investment maturity in social enterprises requires education and good examples. There is a bias linked to organizational form as well as a prejudice that social enterprises do not focus on the business. There is also a language gap between social enterprises and investors. The companies rarely measure the parameters that investors evaluate. The companies needs to understand and show the business´s potential. Through previous research, we know that Sweden lags behind in public financing of social enterprises and that investment potential is more positive at the EU level.

Expected long term effects

Social enterprises reinvest most of the profit, which means financial stability in comparison to the hockey stick model where companies and investors need to sell to a large company in order to receive a sufficiently large dividend on invested capital. This results in more sustainable investments that are also made with a longer-term perspective. Social companies focus on creating change and are driven by Agenda 2030 as a natural part of the business. By clarifying business model and potential, companies can accelerate and create better business & investment potential

Approach and implementation

We have interviewed eight incubators, five social enterprises and six financiers/investors. Our results were presented at a hybrid event where we presented the project. We have tested a first draft acceleration process against social enterprises. Received feedback shows additional aspects that need to be taken into account to make the process more qualitative for the target group. We see that we now have good conditions to develop the concept further and together with the target group, investors and innovation supporters put together a digital programme on a larger scale.